


downtime (a night off)

by desitonystark



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Drunk Shenanigans, Established Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28283352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desitonystark/pseuds/desitonystark
Summary: It’s a rare phenomenon that all Avengers are under the roof, not because they don’t like each other, but because their singular lives are too vast and rich for them to meet frequently and constantly.This just means that when their schedules allow for a precious opening when the team can meet without fear of an alien invasion or imminent global destruction - they try their hardest to make the absolute best of it.(Or: The Team gets drunk on a rare night off)
Relationships: Avengers Team - Relationship, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 14
Kudos: 75





	downtime (a night off)

**Author's Note:**

> you can read it as set in the MCU, or in AA. ive tagged both because you see Bruce instead of the Hulk, but it doesn't matter that much either way

It’s a rare phenomenon that all Avengers are under the same roof.

It isn’t that they don’t enjoy each other’s company, or that they are in any way adverse to coming together for times of crisis and shit’s hit the fan, or that there is some overarching agenda that depends on them being kept separate unless absolutely necessary. It is simply, a matter of scheduling.

Thor likes to split his time between Asgard and Earth, and goes back frequently to provide company to his brother, worried that Loki will feel abandoned by him yet again if he were not to show his face that often. Those visits never go well however, and when Thor is back on Earth, he seeks out Jane Foster, to lick his wounds in private before he is prepared to face his team.

Natasha and Clint are yet to quit their day job at SHIELD, and Fury frequently calls them away for missions that they can’t hear about, speak about, or even know about until they’re in the middle of the assignment. It isn’t uncommon for them to be summoned at odd hours of the day, sometimes in the middle of the afternoon, and sometimes when they’re just about to sit down for dinner.

Tony, for all his posturing that he has no other focus apart from Iron Man, still has duties and responsibilities at Stark Industries. Not being CEO may have considerably reduced the load, but he’s still the face of the company, the Stark behind Stark Industries, and Pepper likes to use him to remind their investors of that from time to time. Just to keep everybody in line.

In the days after the New York Invasion, after the public had adjusted their worldview, after the cleanup, after things reached some sort of normalcy - Steve was nowhere to be found. He packed the clothes he had into a duffel bag that fit neatly over his shoulder, and took his SHIELD issued motorcycle cross-country, exploring the America that had become during his extended sleep. Apart from a couple of updates to inform everybody that he was still in fact alive, and hadn’t fallen back into the ice, nobody heard from him for months - until he showed up back at Stark Tower, startling both Tony and Bruce, to say that he was reporting for duty.

Bruce has made his home in Stark Tower, two floors below Tony’s penthouse suite, but he hasn’t forgotten his days on the run, the people who helped him, the people he helped. They have a lot of downtime as Avengers, and he likes to use it out of the country, in the places he used to call home, helping people the way he used to. He doesn’t go alone anymore, instead he manages a team under Doctors Without Borders, but it still gives him the same sense of fulfilment it used to in his days of obscurity.

It’s a rare phenomenon that all Avengers are under the roof, not because they don’t like each other, but because their singular lives are too vast and rich for them to meet frequently and constantly.

This just means that when their schedules allow for a precious opening when the team _can_ meet without fear of an alien invasion or imminent global destruction - they try their hardest to make the absolute best of it.

//

“Has anybody ever told you,” Clint pauses, smacking his lips and squinting his eyes, “that you have the most fantastic ass?”

In front of him, Tony is swaying from side to side, as if moving to music that nobody else can hear, but he still manages to look unbearably smug at Clint’s comment, “Everyday baby. You didn’t think it was my winning personality that got so many people into bed, did you?”

Natasha pipes up from where she’s sunk into the couch, tilting her head up so that her voice isn’t muffled by the cushions, “I thought it was your money.”

Tony whirls around, and points the vodka bottle he’s clutching at her, “That too. But mainly my ass.”

“Barton is right, Friend Stark,” Thor tilts his head, his gaze falling down, “You have a glorious behind. Asgard’s halls are filled with the most voluptuous of courtesans, and I can’t say any of them have a behind that compares to yours.”

“Eyes off his behind,” Steve grumbles, his arms wrapping around Tony’s waist and pulling him close to his chest, so that Steve can hook his chin over Tony’s shoulder. He isn’t as drunk as the rest of them, because Bruce and Tony are still working on combinations of alcohol that work against the super soldier serum, but he’s got a pleasant buzz going on; and it makes him want to bundle Tony up in his arms and never let go.

“That’s my behind,” Steve squeezes around Tony’s waist for effect, “No more staring.”

Tony jerks his head to the side, and presses a sloppy side to the underside of Steve’s jaw, and Steve goes limp around him. This thing between them is still new, undefined, and neither of them want to do anything to jeopardise it. It feels too big for that, too important.

“All in good fun Cap,” Clint says in a slurred voice, “No need to go all cave-man on Tony. You’ve staked your claim, pissed around him, whatever you want to call it.”

Next to him, Bruce wrinkles his nose and whacks Clint upside on the head. He’s the only one out of the six of them who’s currently sober, electing to not drink because he has no idea how the Hulk will react to booze.

“Don’t be crass Clint,” Natasha says, nodding at Bruce approvingly, “I think it’s cute. It’s sweet that Mom and Dad are in love.”

“Hey!” Tony frowns at Natasha, “Who are you calling Mom and Dad? And which one am I?”

“You’re Mom!” The response is simultaneous, and any complaints that Tony has are immediately drowned out by Thor bellowing in laughter.

“Steve,” Tony says urgently, in a soft tone, and when Steve turns his head to look at Tony, his bottom lip is jutting out, “Steve, do you really think I’m the Mom?”

“Sweetheart, you have three robot babies down in your workshop, of course you’re the Mom.”

Tony nods, seemingly satisfied by that answer, and leans more back into Steve’s embrace.

“Okay,” he says after a couple of seconds, “I’m the Mom. I can live with that. I liked my mom more anyway.”

Steve opens his mouth to reply, but he gets cut off by Clint, who yells, “Stark! You have any of those fancy simulations you got in the training rooms up here? I want to see how many shots of tequila it takes to make me stop shooting straight!”

Tony wrestles out of Steve’s embrace and grabs the bottle of tequila that’s lying on the table, “If you think you’re shooting up my living room you’ve got another thing coming Legolas!”

He hauls Clint off the couch and they stumble into each other, making their way to the stairwell, presumably to get to the training room.

“You got the salt and the lemons?” Steve asks Natasha, and she nods, “I can go grab it from the kitchen now.”

“Best to probably grab some water too,” Bruce adds, standing up to walk with her, “So that Tony and Clint don’t accidentally impale themselves.”

Thor stands up with a giant lurch, ‘Fear not! I shall watch over Friend Barton and Friend Stark, to ensure that they don’t injure themselves.”

He strides away in the same direction that Tony and Clint took before any of them can say anything, and Steve and Natasha share a look.

“We need to get down there fast,” Steve says, “Somehow I feel like Thor will do more harm than good.”

“Agreed. You catch up with Thor and make sure he doesn’t accidentally electrocute everybody, me and Bruce will meet you down there with supplies and a couple bottles of water”

“Sounds like a plan,” Steve nods, and rushes off after Thor, quickening his steps when he hears Tony yell out in joy.

It was a rare phenomenon that the Avengers were under the same roof, but the best of times always came from it.

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> [i'm also on tumblr](https://ad1thi.tumblr.com)   
> 


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